Review Of The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains By Nicholas Carr

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains is a non-fiction book written by American writer Nicholas Carr published in 2010. The book follows Carr’s argument that the invention of new technology leads the networking of the brain to significantly change, lowering our attention span and concentration. Carr’s novel became a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. Carr utilizes chapter two of his book to explore the history of theories of the brain relating to the topic of brain plasticity. He starts the chapter by introducing Friedrich Nietzsche, who suffered various health problems relating to an incident where he fell off a horse. Due to impending blindness as a result of the incident, Nietzsche purchased a Malling-Hansen

Carr also mentions neurologist Sigmund Freud to reveal his newfound theory that the brain consists of many separate cells through his experiments with the nervous systems of fish. His theory at the time was unusual compared to the normal scientific beliefs, however eventually other scientists confirmed his theory, discovering later about neurons and their appendages which consist of axons and dendrites, and also the flow of neurotransmitters across various synapses of the brain. Carr continues onto the progression of scientist’s theories of the extent of brain change. Formerly, neurologists and biologists perceived that the brain was only malleable during childhood and stopped when they hit their adult years, and only a few argued that the adult brain could still continue to grow. Biologist J.Z. Young argued the brain constantly adapted to new situations; Psychologist William James argued the brain could change to a structure that was different than it was previously. However, individuals such as Ramon y Cajal and Rene Descartes embraced the argument that the brain was